The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act includes a U.S. commitment to counter arms embargoes on Israel as the country's isolation deepens due to the Gaza genocide.
Congress unveiled their 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday. This bill is the culmination of a lengthy process in both chambers and a reconciliation conference so that both the House and Senate can vote on the whole bill and send it to the president for his signature.
It comes as little surprise, based on the recently released National Security Strategy, that the Middle East doesn’t take up an inordinate amount of space in the NDAA. But it’s there, and Israel is, of course, a primary feature.
In fact, there’s an entire section devoted to what we will give to Israel. Most of that is merely business as usual, renewing and expanding defense and research cooperation between the United States and Israel. Still, we should keep in mind that, aside from some missile defense funding, this “business as usual” means funds in addition to the aid that Israel gets under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed under Barack Obama in 2016, which amounts to $3.8 billion annually.
But there is one provision clearly meant to address Israel’s growing isolation: a commitment by the United States to fill any gaps in Israel’s arsenal and weapons capabilities created by any other country’s decision to stop selling all or some weapons to Israel.
Such assurances not only undercut the growing international efforts to cut arms from Israel as it carries out a genocide in Gaza, but also opens a potential backdoor for increasing weapons and aid to Israel as support for the country is dropping across the political spectrum. (more...)
New U.S. military funding bill includes measure to oppose global arms embargoes on Israel
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